BLANKBOTTLE Little William
REGION: Ceres Plateau, Cape Town, S. Africa
VARIETIES: Syrah
VITICULTURE: Conventional
YEAR: 2022
ABV: 13%
INFO: Starting out making wine in a friends garage, Pieter Walser is today one of South Africa’s most engaging and original winemakers. He does not own vineyards but sources grapes from high quality sites across the Western Cape. Each release is treated as an individual narrative, with no grape varieties listed and no fixed stylistic boundaries. The ethos is that we should not be bound by varietals on the label so each bottle is appreciated with no preconceptions.
The grapes were picked at optimal ripeness and cooled overnight to 4 degrees celsius. The next morning the grapes were hand sorted.Then fermented in 2 lots. One as whole clusters in an open top fermenter and the other as whole clusters in a submerged cap closed fermenter. The juice underwent spontaneous fermentation and stayed on the skins for as long as possible. Aged in various vessels, older and some new oak for 12 months, blended and bottled.
A pure and fragrant Syrah from un-grafted vines grown at altitude high on the Ceres Plateau. Finesse, lift and elegance draw more parallels to Pinot Noir than Shiraz, with energy, pepper spice and fine acidity thread throughout.
Duck, grilled lamb or charcuterie, especially dishes with pepper or herbs.
VEGAN